


charmed life

by ladybuginettes (stylostique)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, at least for me because my memory of it gets blurred, but ah well I tried, panic attack warning, writing panic attacks is actually pretty difficult even when you know what they're like
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 22:50:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15253773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylostique/pseuds/ladybuginettes
Summary: They both need a little luck in their lives, but sometimes a little good luck for one is too much bad luck for the other





	charmed life

Adrien wasn’t used to being maladroit – he wasn’t _allowed_ to be. But at some point all the stress and exhaustion caused by his back to back photoshoot days during the worst heatwave Paris had seen in a decade, his extra fencing lessons to prepare for the upcoming tournament, and his preparation for the _brevet_ had to manifest _somehow_.

 

And of course, this _somehow_ happened to be a spectacular catastrophe which involved accidentally overturning an entire table laden with rich dishes while shooting a restaurant commercial for Andre Bourgeois, resulting in food splattered over his fine white tux, the floor, every _single_ camera, microphone, light, and other pieces of equipment, and in the hair of his father and Chloe Bourgeois — and he didn’t know whose reaction he feared more. Let it never be said that Agrestes did anything by halves, not even failure. Of course, his father just happened to overhear this quip, meant for the ears of only a snickering kwami, and decided that he needed to be punished.

 

Gabriel Agreste’s preferred mode of punishment? Isolating his precious, perfect son from his good-for-nothing friends till he learned a lesson. And so, Adrien had his phone wiped of all contacts except those his father deemed essential, and was left in the care of the Gorilla with strict instructions to not allow him out of his room till fencing the next day. Gabriel went one step further, too far, changing the Wi-Fi password to make sure his son couldn’t email his friends for ‘help’ to rebel.

 

Adrien was furious. After Netflix France had improved its offerings, he’d stopped buying DVDs and all the DVDs he owned were ones that he’d watched too many times. Adding Plagg’s snark and the still-bright sun (outrageous at nine in the night, but nothing could be done about that), Adrien felt extremely unlucky indeed. Plagg reminded him unhelpfully that his bad luck was _not_ due to the miraculous, but it made Adrien feel better to blame the smug little cat and threaten him with a Camembert embargo anyway — even if both boy and cat kwami knew that if he wanted any freedom at all, he’d need Plagg kept at full capacity.

 

As the clock struck ten and the night finally enveloped Paris in its inky embrace, Adrien finally stretched from the cramped position on his reading bean bag in which he’d dozed off. It was finally time for the most anticipated part of his day, his _week:_ patrol with Ladybug. Calling Plagg for a transformation, he extended his baton to shimmy down, an unnecessary action since he could easily withstand the jump from his mezzanine, but one he liked to do, as Nino would say if he knew, for the aesthetic.

 

As he was getting in position to pole vault out of the open window, a flash of pink and green caught his eye. Looking more closely, he realized it was his Marinette lucky charm, which he’d evidently neglected to wear to his shoot. _That explains a lot,_ he thought bitterly. He didn’t particularly feel like detransforming and dealing with Plagg while he wore the charm to retransform, so he snatched up the bracelet without much thought and vaulted out of the window while using his claws to delicately lace it around his wrist.

 

A light drizzle while he’d been asleep meant that the air was finally cool and clear enough to not feel like sandpaper in his lungs, whipping his hair around as he ascended higher and higher, finally landing delicately on the roof beams of the Eiffel Tower viewing platform, his regular meeting point with Ladybug.

 

* * *

  

Marinette had, on the other hand, had a pretty good day. Avatar: The Last Airbender marathons accompanied by a delicious lunch with one’s best friend tended to have that effect on one’s mood. She was relaxed, quite unusual for her, and she hummed while packing two _pains au chocolat_ for the road, genuinely looking forward to laugh with Chat Noir on patrol, the cherry on the icing of a wonderful day. Little did she know that a small oversight, not even on her part, would be the reason her superhero career, and life, would change forever.

 

She transformed and chose a leisurely route, enjoying the cool night breeze which was a literal breath of fresh air after the hot, hot day. The city of Paris glittered beneath her, coaxing her to perform daring stunts and whoop in a most Chat Noir-like manner, as late night walkers cheered her on. When she finally landed on the meeting point platform, the first thing she noticed, which took the wind out of her sails, was Chat Noir’s hunched form.

 

“Chaton? What’s wrong?” Chat Noir must have been really out of it, she pondered, as even his superhuman (superfeline?) ears hadn’t picked up her arrival, and she hadn’t exactly been quiet. He straightened up, fixing a _very_ fake and eerily familiar smile on his face, reaching a hand up to his neck.

 

“Nothing important, ma Lady, and may I say you look radiant today?” Marinette would have focused more on the fact that he missed out on a prime op-purr-tunity (damn it!) for a cat pun, if her gaze hadn’t been inexplicably drawn to his moving hand. She took a few steps forward, wondering why she’d focused so intently yet involuntarily on this specific movement, and as she drew close, she realized _exactly_ why.

 

There, in high relief, was a bracelet Chat Noir should _not_ have been in possession of. She knew this because she was the one who’d crafted that bracelet all those years ago, and she was the one who had chosen to give it to a boy who was most definitely and absolutely not Chat Noir. Except that apparently, he was. Apparently, he was very much Chat Noir, and Chat Noir was very much him, and if Chat Noir were Adrien Agreste, then denim equaled leather and stripes equaled florals and numbers had no meaning, and the world might as well cease to exist, because it certainly seemed to be converging on itself, and this was all her fault, and Papillon, who looked oddly like Gabriel Agreste when face to face with her, was reaching for her earrings, and—

 

“LADYBUG! My lady, my lady, _breathe!_ You need to _breathe!_ In and out, in and out, damn it Google, why are you useful for finding out the bones in dinosaur species but not in useful things like helping your friend out of a panic attack and—”

 

Marinette took a deep breath that caused her whole body to shudder with its exhale. She focused on Chat Noir’s face, his hand waving in front of her. On his lucky charm braceleted hand which should have _not_ been lucky charm braceleted because Chat Noir wasn’t a thief and she’d given that to a very special civilian while in civilian clothing, and… Chat Noir interrupted her train of thought when he noticed her starting to breathe quicker again.

 

 _“Ma Lady,_ I think you should go home. You’re clearly not at all well,” he sighed, resting a hand, mercifully bracelet free, on her shoulder. She nodded and shot him an apologetic look before she turned to swing away, to scream to the sky, to Tikki, and into her pillow before she’d finally fall asleep.

  


**Author's Note:**

> part one of a two shot, you didn't think I'd leave you hanging like that, did you? expect the second chapter to be uploaded soon.


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